A Couple of Very Different Boys and Girls
by Ichikami
Summary: Ranma and the gang head over to a neighboring town to participate in a dojo vs. dojo competition. When they arrive Akane insists on going to a local shrine to pray for victory. While there, the quartet discovers a well…
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½ or Inuyasha. They are both owned by Rumiko Takahashi. And the people who made the anime. :P

Chapter One: Falling Into a Well

"Oh look! A shrine!" Akane said happily pointing up some major stairs as they rolled by in the car. "Yeah. So what?" Ranma asked, picking his nose. "Hey, Dad, stop the car will ya?" Akane asked her father. "Akane what do you want now?" asked Akane's second oldest sister Hibiki as the car rolled to a gentle stop. "I'm going up to the shrine to pray." answered Akane. "For what?" Ranma asked. "Victory!" she smiled making the v-sign with her fingers. She dashed up the stairs. "You don't have to wait for me. I might be a while." "Akane wait. I'll come with you." said the infatuated Ryoga. He hopped out and made to join her where she waited on the steps. "Thanks Ryoga. Anyone else wanna come?" she asked. "As if… ow!" Ranma yelled as he was hit in the head with a giant paw. "What did you do that for? You stupid old man!" Ranma shouted at the panda sitting behind him. The panda held up a sign: Go now or else I'll disown you. No man leaves his fiancé alone with a rival. "Damn it, he's not my rival and who I marry is my choice!" he shouted futilely at his father turned panda but exited the car anyway. Shampoo followed. Where Ranma went, she went.

The four of them watched as the car drove off. "Ugh. I don't know why you have to go pray for victory." Ranma commented as they headed up the steps. "With super fast Ranma here, stupid strong Ryoga, unfortunately," "Hey!" exclaimed the unfortunate. Ranma continued without caring. "Chinese Amazon warrior-ess Shampoo and the-not-pretty-butch-girl _you_ Akane," Ranma dodged a punch from Akane and a kick from Ryoga. "We're a shoo-in to win. If you go and pray for victory you're just gonna jinx it." "I'll have you know that we're facing some tough opponents in this competition. I know the teachers from these dojos. They're tough and they don't play games with their students. You may be strong and fast Ranma, but all you do is change into a girl when splashed with cold water. You don't have super powers." "Hey!" Ranma looked around to see if anyone was around and had heard that. "Don't say things like that out loud. Besides, at least I transform into a super hot, sexy, human girl and not a stupid, old, smelly, dumb pi..eee!" Ranma's latest tirade was interrupted by Ryoga's umbrella. As he blasted off again (well, for the first time) Akane thought about his last words. "Pieee? What?" "Ignore him." Ryoga said and headed towards the building. The three kids sat down and bowed their heads while Ranma came rushing back. "I'm gonna get you for that Ryoga." "Shhh." They shushed him and resumed.

Ranma sighed and continued to walk around the shrine. He soon came to an old tree. As he stared at it, he felt an eerie sliver of electricity slither down his spine. What? Ranma looked around. He looked back at the creepy tree. "Eerie shock!" yelled Akane poking Ranma in his side. He squealed and whirled around. "Akane! What the heck is wrong with you?" She laughed. "You looked out of it so I woke you up. Come and see this thing Ryoga found." The two of them headed towards an old shack like building next to the shrine. They entered to find Ryoga and Shampoo staring into an old well. "Isn't that cool?" Akane asked joining them. "What's so cool about a stupid dried up old well?" Ranma asked but curiosity got the better of him and he peered in along with his friends. It was so deep and dark that he couldn't see the bottom. He gave Ryoga a mighty shove. Ryoga waved his hands as he tipped back and forth trying to regain his balance. Shampoo skirted out of the way of the flailing Ryoga. "Ranma!" he yelled when he was steady. "You trying to kill me or what?" "I just wanted to know what was at the bottom of it. And I volunteered you to go and investigate." Ranma snickered at him. "Why don't you go and investigate?" Ryoga yelled grabbing Ranma by his shirt. "Hey guys calm down and stop fighting." Akane tried to separate them.

In the struggle the boys accidentally pushed Akane away. Her eyes widened as she felt herself traveling through air. The others watched in slow mo as she fell into the well. Too late, Ranma and Ryoga dashed to catch her, but she was long gone. They listened for a thump to state she had reached the bottom, but none came. After a few seconds of waiting, Ranma commented "Didn't think that well was this deep." "You idiot! Look what you did!" Ryoga turned on him. "What I did? You were the one who pushed her!" Ranma countered. "You were holding my arm so technically you pushed her! Akane! Akane! Are you okay?" no answer came to Ryoga's call. "Maybe she hit head." said the Chinese girl of few words. Visions of Akane unconscious and bleeding to death flashed through the two boys' minds. "Don't worry Akane I'm coming to get you!" Ranma yelled jumping into the well. "What? No I'm going to rescue Akane!" Ryoga jumped into the well also. Shampoo followed. Where Ranma went, she went of course.

After a good long while of falling, Ranma finally hit ground. "Oof," he grunted as the breath got knocked out of him. He looked around but there was no Akane. "Akane!" he yelled then got flattened by Ryoga, who then got flattened by Shampoo. "Get off of me!" Ranma yelled at the bottom of the pile. The other two got off him. "Where's Akane?" Ryoga asked. "Could she have been climbing out when we were falling in?" he asked Ranma. "Then why didn't she answer when we called? Jeez making me worry for no reason." Ryoga and Shampoo looked at him. "What? Am I not allowed to worry about a friend? Let's get out of this hole." The three of them used their martial arts skills to quickly exit the well. "Huh?" exclaimed Ranma. Shampoo and Ryoga stared around dumbfounded. They were now in a forest like area. "Weren't we in an old shack?" Ranma asked. The other two nodded. "Is it possible we may have made a wrong turn somewhere?" Ryoga stared at him like he was stupid. "Are you stupid?" Ryoga asked Ranma. "Hey! I don't see you coming up with a better solution."

A loud roaring caught the attention of the three. Three monsters came rushing out of the surrounding woods and charged the trio. They were like six feet tall, walked on two legs and growled sounds that sounded like human language. The three kids got ready to fight. Ranma kicked his and sent it flying. Ryoga jumped in the air punched his at the top of its head causing it to collapse, never to get up again. Shampoo quickly dismembered hers with some blades she had under her Chinese dress. Ranma's monster slunk off into the forest holding its side and its upper body hanging at a right angle compared to its legs. "What were those things?" Ryoga asked looking at his and Shampoo's monsters lying at the bottom of their feet. "They looked like mutated animals. I guess this was why everyone rejected to having a chemical plant in a human inhabited town." Ranma shuddered. "Remind me to never approach any kind of chemical factory. Where is Akane? I hope she didn't get attacked by these mutated animals." "She go this way." Shampoo said crouching close to the ground. The boys decided she must be looking at some kind of tracks, though how she could decipher whose was whose in the midst of the mutant animals' footprints was beyond them. They decided to trust her judgment and followed her into the forest.

Note: As we all know those mutants were actually demons. Question were those demons just exceptionally weak or is Ranma and the gang exceptionally strong, to be able to take them out with one blow each? Of course those were just small fry but I prefer to believe the latter.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two: What Happened to Akane?

Back tracking to Akane…

As Akane fell into the well, she desperately tried to catch herself but did not succeed. She fell and fell through darkness then landed softly on the bottom of the well. She looked up and could see the bright circle that was the opening of the well. She grimaced. When I get up there I'm gonna kill the both of them. Akane thought to herself punching her fist into the side of the well causing it to shiver slightly and small rocks to tumble from the bricks. She used her martial arts to quickly climb out of the well. "Ranma! Ryoga! Get ready to die!" She yelled as she pushed herself off of the side and landed with her feet planted and arms ready to fight on the edge of the well. What graced her eyes was a lovely daytime forest scene.

Before she could think about the change in scenery, someone grabbed the back of her shirt. "It's about time you got here. We've been waiting for days." As she turned to punch the lights out of the male voice who grabbed her, a soft furry bundle of something jumped into her face and landed on her chest. She instinctively put her hands out to catch it. "Kagome! I missed you! Did you bring me anything?" Akane stared at the talking plushy. "Wait.." said the plushy, which was then snatched away by the voice that had grabbed her before. Akane found herself looking at the point of an impossibly large sword. "Who are you? You're not Kagome." said the boy. Akane had to do a double take. The boy was dressed in red from head to toe. He was bare foot and had long, stark white hair and cat ears. His eyes were golden yellow and he had sharp teeth. "What the… a cosplaying cat boy?" Akane asked. The white haired boy winced as an angry mark appeared on his forehead. "WHO'RE YOU CALLING A CAT? I'M A DOG, YOU IDIOT!" Akane started as she heard a soft chuckle from behind the cosplaying dog boy. One seriously sexy dude dressed in purple stood before her. He held a staff in one hand and had a purple glove with some beads wrapped around the other. "Calm down Inuyasha. Can't you see she's just as confused as we are?" He switched his hold on the staff and held out his ungloved hand to her.

She held his hand and he helped her off the edge of the well. So nice and gentlemanly, Akane thought to herself. This was a welcome change from the loud, rude, and annoying guys who lived to annoy her or always begging for a date. "I'm the monk Miroku, and you are?" he stated with a dazzling smile. "I'm Akane." She answered beginning to swoon under his penetrating gaze. "You wouldn't happen to be from a place called Japan?" he asked. "Yes. Aren't we in Japan now?" Akane asked. "Kind of." Miroku replied placing a hand on Akane's back. "My associates here are Inuyasha, a half blooded dog demon and Shippo, a fox demon." Akane blinked at the dog and the plushy. These people take their cosplay seriously, Akane thought to herself. Then she felt a hand stroking her behind. She paused, not entirely sure what she was feeling. She looked at Miroku who grinned at her. "Do you mind bearing my children?" he asked giving her a playful squeeze. Akane's eyes darkened. She punched the pervert until he was blasting off into a small speck of light like Team Rocket. She held her steaming fist in front of her. This was why she hated men.

Inuyasha and Shippo were surprised. Silently watching the monk, they knew what was to come. The present day era girl called Akane was going to get a big surprise from the fake prince charming. When Miroku began his usual perverted groping, and the girl had no reaction Inuyasha wondered if the girl was stupid. Did she not feel what he was doing to her? She glanced at the perverted monk. Here comes the slap, Inuyasha and Shippo tensed for the blow. But what came was an explosion that sent the monk flying into the heavens. They watched as he became a shooting star. They looked at the girl who looked like she was possessed by Satan himself, steam rising from her still upheld fist. She turned her gleaming starlight eyes on the demon duo. They unconsciously held unto each other for protection and comfort.

"Where am I? Where are my friends?" Akane asked the two of them when a giant cat monster with flaming feet landed next to them. Akane gasped and scurried away. A girl with long black hair a skin tight suit and a boomerang, slid of the cat's back pulling an unconscious monk off with her. "What happened?" she asked the dog and the fox. They glanced at the not Kagome. "Is she from.." asked the girl. "Yep." answered the dog. "Is she the one who…"asked the girl glancing at the monk losing his blood from his damaged nose. "Yep." answered the fox. The girl sighed. "We better take her to Kaede." She threw Miroku back on top the cat. "What about Kagome?" the fox asked joining boomerang girl on the cat. "She'll head towards Kaede's if she misses us." answered boomerang as the cat took to the air. Akane sat on the ground head whirling. She was no longer sure she had walked in on a cosplaying party. The dog grabbed her around the waist. "Put me down! Put me down you creep!" Despite Akane's strength she could not escape the demon's grip. He dashed off towards some unknown.

Note: The very first time I saw Inuyasha I thought Inu was a cat. Then I learned he was a dog. I was still satisfied. I like dogs and cats.


	3. Chapter 3

I do not own Ranma ½ or Inuyasha. They are both owned by Rumiko Takahashi. And the people who made the anime. :)

Chapter Three: And What of Kagome?

Kagome was in her house packing her bag and getting ready to go to the feudal era. Slinging her backpack over one shoulder she ran out of the house. "Okay, Mom, I'm on my way!" Kagome said to her mother. "Alright, dear. See you in a bit." Her mom replied stirring the pot of lunch. Kagome wandered off into the shack towards the well. She sighed. "Stupid algebra. Taking up so much time. Now Inuyasha's going to be mad at me and say," Kagome starts mimicking the dog demon, "'Kagome, where have you been all this time? Jewel shards don't find themselves you know. If you're not up to the task you might as well quit.' Then I would be like, 'Inuyasha! You couldn't find these shards without _my_ ability to sense them.' And he would be like 'It's all _your_ fault the Shikon Jewel broke up into all those shards anyway.' And I would be like 'INUYASHA, SIT!" Kagome sighed and rubbed her head. "Arguing with Inuyasha always gives me a headache. He's so stubborn." "What are you doing?" Kagome whirled around and spotted her younger brother. "Ah...Souta! What are YOU doing?" "Ma told me to give you this. She noticed you were low on first aid supplies and she forgot to refill your kit. We thought you would have been gone by now but there's no harm in checking. As you can see you're still here. And talking to yourself. You're so weird. Say hi to Inuyasha for me." He handed her his objects and waved goodbye while leaving. "Little…, Inuyasha, now my brother thinks I'm crazy!" She said to herself while jumping into the well.

After pulling herself up and out, Kagome arrives in the other time zone. She looks around and sees the dead bodies of two weak-looking, small fry demons. Did something happen? Where are Inuyasha and the rest of the guys? Looking around, Kagome could not see any signs of a major battle. I better head toward Kaede's. They probably grew tired of waiting for me or got side tracked by something, thought Kagome. She headed out towards the village.

With Ranma, Ryoga, and Shampoo

The boys followed Shampoo as she tracked the mysterious signs on the ground deeper and deeper into the forest. After a good couple of minutes of walking, they came to a village. "Look! Civilization!" exclaimed Ranma. "Maybe they saw Akane." He walked up to a man carrying a bundle of wood. "Hey, old man, did you see a girl with short hair and a bad attitude walk through here?" The old man glanced at him then ran away. "Demon! More demons have arrived!" he yelled at the top of his voice. People scattered, staring at the three youngsters moving through the village. "Demon? I may be a lot of things but demon aint one of them. Don't know about you Ryoga." Ranma commented. "Shut up Ranma. What's with this place? Is this one of those backwater places where people refuse to use technology or something?" asked Ryoga. "You're right. Where are all the cars? Where's the McDonalds? I'm starving. Maybe they're making a samurai movie?" said Ranma, who at that moment got splashed by a little girl trying to escape with a bucket of water. Ryoga and Shampoo quickly dodged out of the way, being bearers of the same curse that plagued Ranma. Now in the fighter's place stood a wet girl with red hair, tightening the drawstring on the pants that had become too big for her. The little girl with the bucket ran into a nearby building, screaming and crying. "Why does this always happen? It's like the universe wants me to get wet." She wrung out her braid. "Let's keep moving." Fortunately the villagers had deserted the area and no one witnessed Ranma's transformation. They continued looking for Akane.

With Akane and the Inu gang

Akane was sitting inside of a hut, eating some soup prepared by an old priestess. They introduced the old woman as Kaede and the boomerang girl said her name was Sango. The monk was still out cold and they were planning to bring her back to the well so she could back to modern day Tokyo. "Your friends must be very anxious wondering about you." said Sango feeding the flaming cat monster which had shrunk down to the size of a kitten. Akane had immediately fallen in love with the creature. They called it Kilala. "Yeah. They're probably going out of their minds right now thinking that I'm dead or something."Akane said with a laugh. Akane was also pleased to find out that Shippo wasn't an evil and possessed plushy, but it still made her uneasy to know that he was a demon. The dog boy was a demon as well. When she arrived in the town, she wondered why everything looked like it came out of a history text book. Being told that she had traveled back in time and the things that exist in fantasy books were real stretched the limits of Akane's mind. Then a thought occurred to her. "Oh no." she said out loud dropping her spoon. Her hosts glanced in her direction. "I just thought of something. What if Ranma and Ryoga jump into the well to help me? It's something they'll do." "Well, we better get you back before that happens." said Kaede.

Back to Kagome

Kagome reached the town where Kaede lived. The usually busy village was a ghost town. "Huh?" Kagome said looking around. An old man came out of a nearby building. He knew Kagome. She and her group of demons visited Kaede often. "Priestess. A group of strangely dressed demons passed through town. They went that way." He pointed in the general direction that led to Kaede's house. "Demons? Is Inuyasha fighting them?" Kagome asked him. "No. He arrived earlier and went to see Priestess Kaede with the rest of your demons." The old man answered. "Okay, thank you." Kagome went off drawing her bow and arrow. Soon she met a trio of teens, two girls and a boy. One of the girls had long blue-black hair and was wearing a Chinese dress. The other girl had long red hair tied back in a braid and wore a Chinese shirt and pants. The boy had short black hair tied back with a head band, wearing a regular shirt and pants and carried an umbrella. If Kagome didn't know any better she would have sworn they were from the present. Kagome shouted to get their attention. "Oh look, a school girl." said the red haired girl. A School girl? Kagome thought. They know this is a school uniform? "You know where we can find a McDonalds? What's with the archery?" the red haired girl continued without caring. Kagome lowered her bow. "Who are you? And what are you ordinary people doing in the feudal era? Did you come through my well?" she asked.

Attention: To all my readers out there, who decided this was interesting enough for your viewing, thank you for reading "A Couple of Very Different Boys and Girls". This story was my brain's response to my forcing it to think up a storyline for the next chapter of "Sakura Haruno Must Die". Pretty soon something will come up (for those waiting for an upload) but until then enjoy this little bundle of goodness.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four: Meet the Cast

Ranma, Ryoga and Shampoo couldn't believe what they just heard. "Feudal era?" asked Shampoo. "Come through _your_ well?" asked Ryoga. "Ordinary people? I'll have you know we're anything but ordinary!" exclaimed Ranma. The archer girl in the school uniform put her weapons away. "My name is Kagome. You come from Japan right?" "Well of course. We're just a little lost and we're looking for a friend of ours. The shrine we visited is yours?" said Ryoga. Another one is here? What's going on? Kagome asked herself. "Yes, it's my family's shrine. Well, for now follow me. If we go find Inuyasha he can sniff your friend out." Kagome went on in the general direction they were originally headed. "So you don't know where the McDonalds is?" Ranma asked Kagome. "There isn't one." Kagome replied. "Aw man." said Ranma sulking. "I'm so hungry." Kagome looked at her like she was weird. "What you mean by feudal era?" Shampoo asked Kagome. "This isn't the Japan you're used to. The well you entered leads to another dimension, the feudal era in the past." Kagome said. "Whoa sounds like a movie." Ranma commented. "No really, what are you talking about?" Kagome proceeded to tell the trio about the well and demons and magic. Soon they reached a house at the far end of the village. Akane and a bunch of cosplayers were walking out and away from the hut.

"Kagome! Where have you been all this time? Jewel shards don't find themselves you know. If you're not up to the task you might as well quit while you're ahead. This is a waste of my time." said Inuyasha when he saw the priestess girl and her strange companions. "Inuyasha. I tried to make it on time. You couldn't find these shards without _my_ ability to sense them anyway, so you're supposed to wait. Decades until I decide to show up." shouted Kagome. "Yeah? But it's all _your_ fault the Shikon Jewel broke up into all those shards in the first place! You should be here on time so we could get started and finish this as soon as possible." Inuyasha said angrily. "INUYASHA, SIT!" Inuyasha did his usual ostrich move, having his head buried in the dirt. Kagome rubbed her forehead. "You're so stubborn. I tried my best to make it on time. Ugh. Why do I have a sudden case of déjà-vu?" "Maybe it's because you have this argument all the time." said Sango wryly.

"Ranma, Ryoga, Shampoo!" Akane ran to greet her friends. "Akane!" the three came to tell her hi. "We worried about you." said Shampoo. "What are you doing here? Eating and having fun while we're starving and fighting mutant forest creatures and looking for you?" yelled Ranma. "Are you alright Akane?" asked Ryoga. "Yeah. Ranma. What happened? Where did you get wet?" "In the movie set village." replied Ranma. "How did you guys find me?" Akane asked. "I track you down," said Shampoo, "and archer girl, Kagome, bring us rest of way." "You won't believe what we've been through." said Ranma. "Mutant creatures and wormhole wells…I told you going to that shrine was gonna jinx us." "We wouldn't be here if you hadn't pushed me." said Akane. "Me? It was Ryoga!" "Don't blame this on me. You were the one who pushed her!" said Ryoga. "Okay! Quiet!" said Akane. She turned to talk to Inuyasha who was busy eating dirt.

"What happened to you?" she asked him. "Nothin'." he replied getting up. "We need to get them back to the present." said Kagome. "Where's Miroku?" "Here I am. Did I miss anything?" the monk waved from the doorway, recovered from his earlier flight. Akane ground her teeth. The monk joined them. "What are we doing now?" he asked. "Bringing Akane and her friends back to the well so they can return to the present." said Inuyasha. "Friends?" Miroku turned to see the newcomers he hadn't noticed before. The two stunning girls standing next to Akane caught his eye. "Why, hello there. I'm Miroku." he went to introduce himself. Akane hissed like a snake and Miroku quickly withdrew. "What's wrong?" asked Ranma. "You don't want to know." said Akane. Ranma, Akane, Shampoo, Ryoga, Sango, Kilala, Shippo, Inuyasha, Kagome, and Miroku headed out towards the well.

Using their super bad awesome skills, they arrived at the well in no time. But what awaited them was something unexpected. A giant thing made of rock was blocking their way to the well. Thousands of bees that work for Naraku were all over the place. Skinny little demon henchmen laughed and slithered along in the sidelines. "Wha?" came the multiple responses from the ½ group. "Oh no. One of Naraku's demons is blocking the well." said Kagome. "That is way too many bees for me." said Miroku. "Iron Reaper, Soul Stealer!" shouted Inuyasha, sending his attack towards the rock. The rock dodged and the attack hit the well, shattering it into a hundred pieces. It collapsed and caved in on itself. "My way home!" screamed present day people. "Oops." said Inuyasha. "Sorry." Sango jumped into the battle with her boomerang and sent it flying. It took out a couple of the lurking small fry before returning to her. Miroku unleashed the wind tunnel, sucked up a good bundle of the bees, and quickly wrapped the hand up again. Kagome let loose some arrows into more lurking small fry.

The ½ group looked on in confusion. "Should we help?" Ranma asked, squashing some of the bees in his hands. "We should. But I don't even know what those things are much less how to fight them." said Akane, hiding with Shampoo behind Ryoga's umbrella from the bees. "We just took them out regularly. It's the bees I'm worried about." said Ryoga. Then out of nowhere giant Kilala came and started tearing small fry apart. The trio who had yet to meet Kilala looked on in shock. "C-c-cat." stuttered Ranma. "Oh no." said Ryoga and Akane. "B-b-b-big cat!" Ranma's eyes rolled back in her head and she fainted. "Ranma!" Shampoo rushed to her side. Ryoga used his umbrella to swat the bees that made for Shampoo and the fallen Ranma. Then Ranma stood up, eyes hooded. "Aw, don't tell me he went cat mode." said Akane. "Meow?" said Ranma. She leaped into battle and took out small fry with cat fist kung fu. The other three joined the battle, Ryoga taking out bees by exploding them with his ki techniques and the two girls removing small fry demons from the face of the planet. One of the small fry aimed for Akane behind her back and she couldn't defend in time. At the last minute Miroku came and took it out with his staff. Before Akane could thank him he was off chanting words to take out another one. "I've never seen so many demons like this." said Sango to Kagome destroying a demon by splitting it in half with her boomerang. "Not even demon tribes have this many. What is Naraku trying to pull?" "I don't know. But we have to end this soon." said Kagome unleashing three arrows at once.

The fight lasted about a good ten minutes. Then the bees flew away. The small fry had been dealt with, the rock monster was taken out with a wind scar, and the group of humans plus two demons surveyed the wreckage of the well. "It'll take a while to fix this." said Shippo. "I sense a jewel shard." said Kagome. "What? Where?" the shard hunting team wanted to know. The ½ quartet had no idea what they were talking about. "That direction." Kagome pointed. "It's pretty faint." "Well let's get to it before we lose it." Inuyasha ran off into the indicated direction. "Hurry up. The villagers will take care of the well." "What do we do?" asked Akane. "You could stay with Kaede and wait for the well to be fixed or come with us." Sango suggested. Akane looked at the rest of her friends. Ryoga and Shampoo nodded their agreement. Ranma wriggled on the floor acting like a cat. "We'll come along." said Akane.


	5. Chapter 5

I do not own Ranma ½ or Inuyasha. They are both owned by Rumiko Takahashi. And the people who made the anime. XP

Chapter Five: Of Piglets and Wolves

"Look guys! Dinner!"

Piglet Ryoga ran for his life. He ran and ran, burrowing under bushes and leaping over stones as fast as his little legs could carry him. He could hear the howling of wolves as his pursuers came nearer and nearer. Ryoga cursed his fate that made things always end up like this. How did this happen in the first place? To get his mind of his quickly beating heart and his growing-heavier-by-the-second legs, Ryoga struggled to remember the beginning of his troubles.

Night had fallen. Kagome had lost track of the shard and couldn't find it again. They decided to rest and make camp for the night. The shard hunters quickly and easily made accommodations for their four new guests. Ranma was still a girl but no longer acting like a cat and avoiding Kilala like the plague. Unfortunately, the now tiny cat demon had taken a liking to Ranma and was constantly trying to nuzzle up next to him. Inuyasha was up in a tree and Shippo and Shampoo had hit it off quite well. The two of them, along with Kagome, were sitting by the fire talking about stuff. Kagome and Shippo were talking about the magic and demon filled feudal era while Shampoo listened. Akane and Miroku had wandered off somewhere and Ryoga watched all of this feeling slightly bored, comparing this lag to the excitement the afternoon had brought. Sango approached him carrying a container. "Do you mind going to the river and getting some water for me so I can start boiling water for dinner?" she asked. Ryoga, eager to do something other than sit, agreed.

He took the container and set off for the river finding it easily by following the noise it made. After filling the container with water, he realized that it would be much more difficult to make it back to camp. I'll just retrace my steps, thought Ryoga and returned in the direction he came from. After a few minutes of walking he realized his journey back towards the camp was taking longer than the journey to the river had been. I must have taken a wrong turn somewhere. Ryoga thought to himself. I'll just go back to the river and start again. He turned around to go back to the river. But after a few more minutes of walking he still didn't reach the river. He couldn't even hear it anymore which meant he was far away from it. Ryoga paused and thought. Alright, turn around and start over again. Ryoga did a complete 180 and continued on his journey. Minutes passed. His belly started to growl. He called for his companions but no one answered. Then, he could hear the river. He rushed towards it, lost his footing and fell. The container of cold water fell on him turning him into a piglet. The container landed on top of him, knocking him off his feet and right into a waterfall. There was no waterfall near the camp, was Ryoga's last thought before he lost consciousness.

When Ryoga awoke he was half in and half out of the container he was given to get water. It was floating down the river like a tiny boat keeping his head out of the water while his hindquarters dangled in the stream. In the process of trying to pull himself out of the water and completely in the container, Ryoga found himself dumped out and his boat quickly floated away. Ryoga desperately started swimming and lucky for him the current was no longer very strong. He swam to the shore and climbed out. He rested on the stony ground. It was still night time and Ryoga had no idea where he was. When he was well rested he stood up and got ready to head back to the camp. He was greeted with a long grey-brown nose snuffling him and growling softly. He looked into the brown of eyes of a wolf. "Look guys! Dinner!" said a tall young man with short light colored hair, pointed ears, and dressed in furs. Two other people who looked like him appeared carrying spears and had wolves by their sides as well. Ryoga kicked his little pig feet and hit the wolf's nose. It backed away slightly shaking its head. Ryoga ran for his life. He was aware that he was venturing further and further away from the river which was the only lead he had to get back to his friends. But right now self preservation outweighed any other decision.

He ran, feeling the wolves and their owners draw closer and closer when suddenly in a gust of wind; he was plucked out of the ground and held up high. He began to wiggle and squeal. The person holding him had long dark hair held back in a ponytail. He had pointed ears and pointed teeth and looked vaguely familiar. "Is this what you guys are chasing?" he laughed and asked the other hunters. "But Koga, this is the only animal we could find. All the other prey is hiding." said the one who had found him first. The man named Koga looked back at piglet Ryoga. "Kinda small." he commented. Ryoga breathed a sigh of relief. This Koga was going to let him go. "He'll still make a good stew. Catch." Koga pitched him towards another hunter who caught him in a sack. The wolves howled and the hunters continued in their search for prey. Ryoga stayed and trembled in the sack. Next to him was a skinny wide eyed bunny rabbit who was busily chewing a hole out of the bag. Ryoga watched as the bunny squeezed out of the hole to freedom. Ryoga dived for the hole himself but was too fat to get through. He began trying to make the hole bigger.

Back at camp

Akane and Miroku had made up and were now on speaking terms. Food had finished preparing and everyone was eating. Akane was the first to notice the absence of one of the party. "Where's Ryoga?" she asked. "I sent him to get more water for dinner." said Sango. She paused. "Didn't he already return? He brought the water I cooked with right?" she asked. "No. I brought that." Inuyasha remarked. "Did you run into him?" Miroku asked. "No I didn't. He wasn't there when I arrived." Inuyasha answered. The ½ group got silent. "He got lost again." said Ranma who was now a boy again. The shard hunters looked confused. "Ryoga has a bad sense of direction." explained Ranma. "But the river is so close." said Shippo. "Ryoga would get lost in his own backyard." Ranma commented. "Then we should go find him." Inuyasha said. "Oh, don't worry about it. He can take care of himself." said Ranma. "Ranma!" yelled Akane. "It's not that I'm worried about. I smell wolf. And they're hunting. Who knows what they would do to a human in their territory." said Inuyasha. The ½ trio imagined the deadly hunter animals that traveled in packs hunting down Ryoga and eating him. The shard hunters imagined wolf demons tearing Ryoga to bits and eating him. They immediately started making preparations to find him.

Back to Ryoga

The hunters had reached their den. Ryoga knew because he was no longer being batted around. In one last desperate attempt to escape he tried to squeeze his head through. "Oh no you don't." said the wolf demon grabbing Ryoga and holding him tightly. "Hey, where'd the other one go?" he said looking for the rabbit. "You lost the other one?" said the light haired wolf demon standing in front of a pot of boiling water. The demon holding Ryoga threw him into the pot. "It's not my fault there's a hole in this bag." he said showing the bag to the other demon. They were interrupted when Ryoga screeched and jumped out of the hot pot in full human form. He screamed while looking for water steam rising from his nearly cooked body. He grabbed a jug of cool water and dumped it on his body turning back into a pig in the process. He was immediately surrounded by the demons and their wolves. Oh boy, Ryoga thought to himself.


End file.
